Our Lady of Paris

On Monday morning, while I was sitting in a waiting room as the oil in my car was getting changed, I received this text from my daughter, Marissa.

I quickly searched Notre Dame on Google and immediately saw images of the fire. As were millions of others around the world, I was devastated.

I got up and turned on the TV to NBC. Tears did stream from my eyes while I listened to Lester Holt describe the scene playing out in from of me.

Once the car was done, I came home and watched for hours more. When the announcement was made that the next 90 minutes would be crucial as to whether the two front towers would continue to stand, I could take no more. I went to Target to get a vaccination for shingles that my doctor had ordered. Then to Home Goods to wander aimlessly, finding nothing that brought me even an ounce of joy, leaving empty-handed. That tells you how devastated and depressed I was feeling.

The 90 minutes was almost up, so I headed home and was beyond relieved to hear that the towers were expected to stand. I watched a bit longer and once again could not bare watching that inferno blasting out of Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris. (Notre Dame de Paris translates to Our Lady of Paris.)

It is the Mother Church of France and it truly felt like our mother was being injured and possibly dying. I turned it off and instead, started searching my computer and albums for happy photos of all the times I’ve been to the Cathedral over the years.

If you’ve been there even once, you know those feelings. The feelings and knowledge that the beloved church that has stood for over 850 years and holds such majesty and humility is being so violently threatened. Of course, Notre Dame holds great meaning to Catholics like me, and to all Christians around the world, but it also houses art, poetry, literature, and priceless antiquities of mankind. It is a true icon of civilization. An icon of what is best in our humanity.

Notre Dame has survived the Crusades, the French Revolution, two world wars and so much more. It is the most visited structure in the most visited city in the entire world. Thirteen million visitors a year, approximately 30 thousand a day! It is a gothic masterpiece.

In 1909 Joan de Arc was beatified in Cathedral Notre Dame by Pope Pius X. You feel all of that whether you are in its shadow or inside its sacred walls.

There is so much to be in awe of. From the flying buttresses, the gorgeous rose windows and the wonderful gargoyles. My family loves the gargoyles!

(I’m taking a break here to let you know that all of the above was written on Monday afternoon and evening. Knowing I would not post this until Wednesday, I tried to write in the past tense.  Everything below was written on Tuesday afternoon, after seeing and learning what had survived the fire.)

Waking up on Tuesday morning, I am filled with a sense of relief and the knowledge that prayers were answered. The worst did not happen. Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris did not burn to the ground. It will be rebuilt. Just as with this, Holy Week, there is dying and rising.

I must confess some sad truths. The first is that when I read Marissa’s text on Monday morning, my immediate thought was. “Notre Dame University, dear Lord, not another school shooting!” The second is that when I spoke to Marissa later that evening, she told me that when she saw the first images on social media of smoke (no flames yet) at Cathedral Notre Dame, she thought, “Oh please, not another terrorist attack in Paris, not at Notre Dame!”  The horrible and sad truth is that this is where our minds immediately go these days. We no longer can have the most innocent of thoughts, such as, “Oh no, a fire!”

My last visit to Notre Dame was in March 2014. It was a weekend trip with Peggy, her sister-in-law, Lorraine, and Peggy’s daughter, Natalie, who was studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain. We weren’t able to climb up. I can’t remember why. Maybe we were there too late in the day. (I just read the “Paris” post which I link at the bottom and found that we were not able to climb up because of an air quality alert that day) Still magical every time!

At the bottom of the post, you’ll find links to other times I’ve posted about Notre Dame over the last 10 years here on the blog. I’ll end the written part of this post with an early wish for a Happy Passover and Happy Easter to you all. If you’d like, please continue to view happy memories from my visits to Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris. xoxo